KWAQ
The Fat Club review
04/11
Richard Bultitude has been weaving sonic tapestries for the best part of a decade and drawn deserved comparisons with the likes of Autechre, Boards of Canada, Prefuse 73 and Burial. Under the moniker Point B he has repeatedly thrown two fingers to the genre police and defecated in any pigeonhole he sees fit. Evolving from early dancefloor electro and ambient excursions, his 2006 album A Previous Version of Myself drew on a multitude of influences with fractured glitch and bass traversing mechanical, textured electronica, whilst 2009′s Suicide Beauty Spot threw an alien, instrument-heavy spin on the dubstep sound.
It comes as little suprise then, that in 2011 Bultitude should deliver something completely different. Released on the excellent Bonus Round Records, the Kwaq EP spans house, techno, electro and 2-step, but with an unmistakeably Point B twist. The title track is a definite highlight, created several years ago but kept as a secret weapon in his live set arsenal. A glitchy house tweaker, Kwaq‘s perverted funk channels Alter Ego being molested by a broken stylophone. Girder layers solid, tribal percussion with obtuse squeaks and squelches, whilst Asking Nicely is a steppy, techno number dragged along by a robotic voice telling us to ‘be nice’. Who could refuse. The final track on the EP Jakt pays homage to early Point B releases on labels such as Orson and SCSCI Av; tough, minimalist electro that takes no prisoners.
A solid release that injects heavy-duty electronics with a sharp shot of humour, the Kwaq EP is yet another original and uncompromising twist in Richard Bultitude’s sonic endeavours. Go get it.
Darkfloor
04/11
It was a pleasant surprise to receive a promotional copy of this release back in early March. Released today, April 4th on Bonus Round Records comes Kwaq, a 4 tracker from the London based mind of Richard Bultitude, known to you and I as Point B.
Now this isn’t typical your Point B; dark, textured and solid darkfloor sound as perhaps be is best known from his work on Combat Recordings. No it’s something a bit different, which Bonus Round describe as stonking, quirky technoid house. I can go along with that.
Asking Nicely is the one for me. Really stands out, particularly it’s bassline, and fits into what I’m doing at the moment. It’s got support from my on my shows and DJ sets.
Great work, something different to what I was expecting but with nevertheless the superb production I’ve come to expect from
Point B.
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Null & Void
04/11
Out this week is more top quality rave ready techno from Bonus Round Records, this time Point B lets rip contrastic with his at times melancolic Suicide Beauty Spot but still with the same high production qualities. I played Girder on the Bloc rig this year and was blown away and actually pretty freaked out (in a good way) with the dynamics on this track and the depth and intensity of the sound.
SUICIDE BEAUTY SPOT
Future Music Review
01/12/09
Richard Bultitude's second full-length album under the Point b monkier - following his 2006 debut A Previous Version of Myself, with the project oft compared to Boards of Canada, but perhaps more appropriately, Burial.
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DJ MAG Review
02/11/09
As dubstep comes of age, so the quality moves out of the realm of DIY bedroom productions and into that of the rich, layered compositions found in Suicide Beauty Spot. Genuinely exciting exploration of the sonic possibilities opening up out there.
4/5 by Ben Arnold
FlyGlobal Review
02/11/09
As the title and cover suggests, Suicide Beauty Spot reflects both the dark and lighter sides of Point B’s take on beats, 2-step and dubstep that’s a very individual outlook with lots to recommend it...
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KMAG review
01/07/06
Unforgiving streets are the thread that connects Richard Bultitude with his brooding electronica-informed dubstep-ish work as Point B. Yet despite his current base, Brixton, presenting an obvious starting point for such links, experiences in previous hometowns had more affect on a sound refined throughout his imminent second studio album 'Suicide Beauty Spot'...
A PREVIOUS VERSION OF MYSELF
WIRE Review
01/07/06
Having started out recording on four-track tape equipment before going on to make his hard drive spin under his Point B alias, Richard Bultitude keeps the spirit of the bedroom beat alive on his debut album. A few heady moments, such as on the bustling standout "Split", recall the early days of intelligent Techno, which is no bad thing. Such periods of rapid progress have a tendency to dispose of themselves all too quickly. Sorting through it all after the fact takes skill, patience and a sensitive memory.
AngryApe Review
01/07/06
Meaty cuts of dancehall programming plagued by glitches are the basis of Point B's A Previous Version of Myself. Richard Bultitude pays tribute to many but copies none, his deep-set Autechre beats expanding and contracting over gentle brushstrokes of DJ Shadow's creative instrumentation.
Carefully constructed mechanistic beats are layered over electronic sounds to form a startlingly simple but infinitely successful album. Figure incorporates twisted vocal samples and is satisfyingly glitch-ridden while Stg picks up the tempo with bass and breaks mingling to a heavy acid influenced apex. The final track Negated barely slows the pace to gently bring your heart rate back to normal, proving that Bultitude isn't all about the beats.
Tracks are varied and interesting with tasty beats and morish bass, and although swamped in a genre overrun, Point B still deserves to get his name heard. If only for his skill and dexterity in producing programming like this.
by Jennifer Allan
CUTOUTS EP
DJ Magazine Review
01/04/06
Music should entertain, but it also has a duty to challenge the listener and listening to 'Cutouts' it's clear that Point B wants to make his audience scratch their heads in amazement rather than beat them into submissive euphoria. Inspired by Autechre and Presfuse 73 as much as electro and jungle, 'Figure' and 'Cantra' combine glitchy stop-start hip hop beats with gloriously haunting melody lines, while the twitchy breaks of 'The Moving Parts' plunge the deepest recesses of tortured bass aggression. It's unlikely to appear on an Azuli compilation anytime, but right now we need more records like 'Cutouts'.
4/5
Debug Review (Germany)
01/04/06
English Scsi-Av is known for dark classical neo-electro - but here comes new recruit Point B with hip-hop cuts that really pump, and which update the label's technological sound. Even if it's in the same vain as Prefuse it reminds me rather of the good old Gescom days. Yep.
Deutsch Noch so ein Label, aus dem ich nicht mehr schlau werde. Eigentlich bekannt für darken, klassischen Neo-Elektro, kommt Point B hier auf Scsi-Av mit hiphoppigen Cutup-Tracks, die ordentlich pumpen und dem Label so etwas wie ein soundtechnologisches Update verpassen. Auch wenn alle Prefuse sagen werden ... mich erinnert es eher an gute, alte Gescom-Tage. Yep.
FICTIONARY EP
DJ Magazine Review
01/07/04
Following his remix of Transparent Sound's 'Freaks Frequency', Point B flies solo with this dark and experimental take on dancefloor breaks. The pervy title track features the sound of a female orgasm over funky electro-breaks. 'King cirrus' fuses Aphex or Squarepusher's reckless sense of breakbeat abandon with epic Red Planet soundscapes and 'Erosion' ends the EP in style with a night drive to the sonic alleyways once inhabited by Model 500.
4/5